Hydraulic spader and agitator for concrete block machines



Dec. 27, 1949 1 B. SANSBURY 2,492,538

HYDRAULIC SPADER AND AGITATOR FOR CONCRETE BLOCK MACHINES Filed July 12, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 v R. (9' IB- aansZuyzy,

Dec. 27, 1949 1-. SANSBURY HYDRAULIC SPADER AND AGITATOR FOR CONCRETE .BLOGK MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 12, 1948 INVENTOR. 115.5ang5u723n j N l il-w 5 a J 2 Dec. 27, 1949 T. B. SANSBURY 2 5 HYDRAULIC SPADER AND AGITATOR FOR CONCRETE BLOCK MACHINES 4 Sheets-Shet 4 Filed July 12,, 1948 1 25 I 22 32 .11... m m... 2 Z a IE? 3 J "r? j. a: WI! i412 ZHHMHIMETI nlmmu 25 fig 6 q a; 56 2,4 26 2] I INVENTOR.

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Patented Dec. 27, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HYDRAULIC SPADER AND AGITATOR FOR CONCRETE BLOCK MACHINES Thomas B. Sansbury, Orlando, Fla.

Application July 12, 1948, Serial No. 38,296

them a swinging or rotary oscillatory movement,

Another important object of the present invention is to provide hydraulic means which may efl'ect simultaneous rotary oscillations or swinging movements of the stirrers and reciprocation of the spaders.

A further important object of the invention is to provide means which are purely hydraulic for controlling the operation of the device.

With the above and other objects in view that will become apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel form, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved block molding machine,

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof partly broken away.

Figure 3 is a view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, showing the means for oscillating the spader,

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line-44 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevational view of one means of controlling the hydraulic flow,

' Figure 6 is a partial elevation showing the ar-' rangement of the transverse frame, and the spaders, and modified stirrers, and

Figure '7 is a detailed section onthe line 1-! of Figure 6.

In the form of the invention as here shown there is provided a base I!) on opposite sides of which are supported vertical frame members H. Attached to these frame members l by clamping collars I2 are diagonal brace members It the lower ends of which are welded or otherwise secured to the base I6. The upper ends of the members H are connected by a yoke IA. The lower parts of the members H are connected to the mold box and machine frame as shown at its ingeneral, the connections including upper collars, l6 braced to the base by diagonal braces H which also actas limit stops for a structure presently to be described, and lower collars i8 5 Claims. (Cl. 2541) 2 carryingv brackets l9v between which is located the mold box 20..

The members H are preferably of tubular cross section and slidable vertically on the members H is a spader and agitator carrier frame shown in general at 2| which includes sleeves 21a slidable on the members ll. carrying brackets 22 which, in turn, carry side frame members 23 connected at their ends by cross frame members 24. Vertical members 25 connect the upper and lower parts of this frames Carried by the yoke 14 is a vertical cylinder 25 wherein reciprocates a piston? actuating a rod 28- in vertical reciprocating movement. On the lower end of the rod 28 is carried a spider 29v, Connecting the members 24 is a pair of tie bars- 30, and these tie bars 30- carry sleeves 3| wherethrough slide rods 32. The lower ends of the rods 32 are secured/in sockets 33 on the upper ends of two, arched. yokes 34, by means of set screws 35. The. lower ends of the yokes 34 carry two rectangular spader frames 36 having inner bars 31 and outer bars 38 forming, in effect, a pair of rectangular spaders mounted to reciprocate on fixed vertical paths.

Attached to the lower end of the piston rod 28 C is a camming member 39 having a centrally disposed vertical slot. 40,, the lower portion of which is of zi'g-zag form as seen at 4!. Slidable vertically with respect to the member 39 is a yokebar 43 through the center of which runs a bolt 44 carrying a roller 45 which extends through the slots 4| and 4'2. The lower members 24 are connected at each side of the camming device 39 by tie-bars 45' carrying pivot brackets 45 whereto are pivoted bell crank levers having depending legs 41 and upstanding L-shaped legs dB the upper ends of which are pivotally connected to the ends of v iswinging movements of these elements at. The

combined action of the elements with the spaders 36- ensures complete spading of the mix in the mold and prevents the formation of voids so'that'the-resultant product is of uniform density fthroughout.

In Figures'fiand'l modified agitators are shown. In this case carried by the-members 24 are bearings 5! wherein are rotatively mounted shafts 52 suitably held against longitudinal movement in said'bearings; Projecting'from thelower ends of Fixed in the-arms 4'! of the the shafts are rods 53 having agitating blades 54 at their lower ends. The spider has arms 55 carrying sleeves 55 slidably mounted on the shafts 52. Each shaft 52 has cut therein a spiral groove 57 and each sleeve 56 carries a key 58 fitting in the groove so that reciprocation of the spider and sleeves 56 causes rotation of the shafts 52 and consequent rotation of the blades 54.

By either of the means above described the molding materials are forced over and under the spading bars 36 thereby causing the molding material to be packed higher than the strike-off line at the top of the mold box so that the molded block, when ejected or removed, has a flat top surface with sharp edges and such block is of uniform density throughout.

It will be appreciated that the molding materials are piled to a height sufficiently above the plane of the molding box to permit this piled material to be affected by the agitators when the hopper is positioned thereabove. The oscillatory motion of the agitators is such that the material is evenly distributed within the molding boxes and is particularly effective in filling up the corners and voids to obtain a completely uniform density throughout.

Carried by the braces I3 is a plate 59 whereon is mounted a hydraulic control valve 6|], one end of which has connection through the pipe 6| with the upper end of the cylinder while its other end is connected with the lower end of said cylinder through the pipe '62. Also mounted on the plate 59 is a cylinder 63 having one end connected, through a branch 64, by a pipe with the pipe 6|. The cylinder 63 is carried by a frame 66 and in this cylinder is a piston 67 carrying a rod 68 guided at its free end by the frame. On the rod 68 adjacent the cylinder 63 is adjustably screwed a nut 10 between which and one end of the frame 96 a coiled spring "H is disposed around the rod 68. On the frame 66 is mounted a bracket 12 and a lever 13 is pivoted intermediate its ends to this bracket. One arm of this lever is engaged by the end of the rod 58. Pivoted to the plate 59 at 14 is a T-shaped lever 15 the stem of which is normally horizontal and the head normally vertical. The stem of this lever projects away from the valve and is connected thereto by a tension spring 16 normally alined over the pivot so that, if the lever be biased to a past-dead-center position, the spring will bias it to its fullest possible extent. A pin 15a mounted as hereinafter described, is provided to bias this lever downwardly. The lower arm of the head of this lever is connected by a link 1! with the upper arm of the lever 13. The lever l5 constitutes the valve control lever. The upper arm of this lever 15 is provided with pin 18 spaced above the pivot. M. The valve 6B is provided with a stem 79 fixed to an L-shaped member 86 having a horizontal arm formed with an arcuate slot 8| through which the pin 78 extends. The member 85! also has an upstanding arm working in a slotted bracket 82.

Mounted as hereinafter described is an operators lever 83 having an upstanding forked end 84 adapted to straddle the pin 18 as the frame 2| reaches its maximum upper position after the spading and agitating operations have been performed with said frame 2| in its maximum lowered position.

The above-mentioned pin F50. is carried by a collar 85 which is manually adjustable upon the upper end of a vertical bar 85,.said bar 85 being secured to the outer end of an arm 87. This arm 81 is secured to the spider 29. The pin l5a is cooperative with the upper edge of the lever 15 to force this lever down past dead-center and allow the spring 16 to act to trip valve 60, when said spider nears the limit of its downward movement, thereby reversing the travel of the piston 21 and causing ascent of the piston-actuated parts. Tripping of this valve upon ascent of these parts, to again cause descent of the latter, is effected by means'now to be described.

The vertical bar 86 carries a second manually adjustable collar 88 upon which a lever 89 is fulcrumed at 90, and the front end of the lever 15 is provided with a pin 9| for coaction with the upper end of said lever 89. When the pistonactuated parts have been lifted until lever 89 engages pin 9| and forces lever 15 upwardly past dead-center, the spring 76 acts to trip the valve 60, thereby again causing descent of the piston 21 and parts actuated thereby. The lever 89 is spring-held in such position that it will strike the pin 9| unless moved from said position. However, a T-shaped hand lever 92 for this latter purpose is provided, said lever QZbe-ing fulcrumed on an arm 93 secured to frame 2| to swing said. lever 89 to an idle position in which it will not strike said pin 9! when the desired agitating and spading have been performed, thereby permitting maximum ascent of the piston to a position in which it lifts the entire frame 2| and parts carried thereby, well above the mold, for block ejection and mold refilling by conventional means. When frame 2| nears its maximum upper position, the forked end 84 of lever 83, which lever is mounted on the lower end of bar 85, engages the pin 18 and swings the lever 15 to move valve stem 19 to its neutral position, insuring that the frame 2| and parts carried thereby shall remain in their fully raised positions while ejecting the completed block and recharging the mold. After recharging the mold, the operator uses the lever 2,3 to move the lever 15 to piston-lowering position.

The depth of the travel of the spader frames 36 in the mold box 20 and automatic pressure in the fluid cylinder 26 are controlled by the hydraulic valve 60. As the pressure builds up from resistance caused by the molding material being compacted in mold box 29 the pressure is automatically built up in the top of cylinder 26 through feed line 6|, which causes pressure to be increased in cylinder 53 through connecting feed line 55, causing piston 61 to create an extended pressure against pressure adjusting spring H and connecting rod 68. When connecting rod68 is extended by reason of increased pressure in cyl-- inder 26 said connecting rod 63 exerts force against lever 73 which downwardly trips valve control lever 15 through connecting link 11., With control lever 15 thus having its stem in down position spader frames 36 are forced in' an upward direction caused by fluid being directed by control valve 69 through line 62 into the lower end of cylinder 25 causing piston and connecting rod 28 to move upward, thereby lifting spader frames 36. When spader frames 3E3 travel upward in carrier frame 2! until stop-actuated control lever is upwardly tripped by lever at, this automatically reverses valve action, thereby forcing fluid into top of cylinder 25 through line 6|, thereby causing a reverse action. The downward motion of spader frames 36 will continue until pin 75a strikes and downwardly trips lever 15, which again automatically reverses action of control valve 66 which thereby reverses spader frame action. This vertical reciprocatory action of the spader frames and concurrent operationof the agitators will continue automatically until operator moves lever 92 carried on frame 2| and holds it in position to cause lever 89 to clear pin 9|, which allows the complete spader assembly to move upward with carrier frame 2| which is also lifted until forked end 84 in lever 83 straddles pin 18, automatically bringing valve 60 to neutral or shut off position which stops spader action and holds same in upper position for clearance while extracting molded block or shape from mold box 19, Material hopper (not shown) with new supply of molding material is now moved over mold box; operator actuates lever 83 forcing pin 18 and member 80 back by fork 84 on lever 83, starting action of valve 60 and forcing fluid into top of cylinder 26 through line 6|, piston and connecting rod 28 now being moved downward forcing spader frames 36 down and at the same time allowing carrier frame 2! to move downward by gravity until it comes to rest on stops [1. Spader frames 39 continue downward until pin 15a strikes lever 15 forcing the stem of lever 15 down and reversing action of valve 60 thereby starting complete automatic action of spader and agitator again. Each time the spider 29 carrying the spader frames 39 ascends or descends within the limits dictated by the setting of the collars 95 to 88, the agitators are operated.

It will be noticed that while one form of automatic valve control has been disclosed here, other forms such as include rotary valves may also be used.

What is claimed is:

1. In a concrete block machine, a base, upright frame members fixed to and extending upwardly from said base, a yoke connecting the upper ends of said frame members, a hydraulic cylinder carried by said yoke, a transverse frame carried by said frame members, a cross head vertically reciprocable in said transverse frame, a piston rod connecting said cylinder and cross head, a valve controlling the action of said cylinder, a bar carried by the cross head and controlling said valve, vertical shafts mounted in said transverse frame, agitator blades carried by the lower ends of said shafts, oamming means associated with the lower end of said piston rod and operated thereby for causing oscillatory motion of said agitator blades, and spader elements carried by said cross head and reciprocating therewith.

2. A concrete block machine as in claim 1, wherein the camming means is carried by the piston rod and transverse frame.

3. A concrete block machine as in claim 1, wherein the spader elements include shafts vertically slidable in the transverse frame and fixed to said cross head.

4. A concrete block machine as in claim 1, wherein said camming means includes levers carried by the transverse frame for the support of said shafts, a member at the lower end of the piston rod having a cam slot therein and a yoke pivotally attached to the upper ends of said levers and having a part extending through the cam slot in said member for operation of said agitator blades.

5. A concrete block machine as in claim 1, wherein said shafts are journaled in the transverse frame and said camming means includes spiral grooves in said shafts and pins carried by the cross head extending into said grooves for causing rotation of said shafts first in one direction and then in the other direction.

THOMAS B. SANSBURY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Nolan Aug. 20, 1912 Johnson Dec. '7, 1920 P-arkhurst June 29, 1926 Helfrecht Feb. 14, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain July 5, 1929 Number Number 

